There are a dog and a cat.
There were three merry hogs.
There have been several objections.

There is an idea.
There is a table.
There was a crazy cat.
There has been one objection.
There was the bravest knight.

Next chapters

Back to the table of contents

206. Agreement - subject with accompaniment and verb.

In all patterns, subject (rather than accompaniment) must agree in person and number with verb.

Incorrect: The ambassador, with his family and staff, invite you...

Correct: The ambassador, with his family and staff, invites you...

Incorrect: The guest of honor, along with his wife and two sons, were seated at the first table.

Correct: The guest of honor, along with his wife and two sons, was seated at the first table.

207. Agreement - subject with appositive and verb.

In all patterns, verb must agree in person and number with subject (rather than with words in the appositive).

An appositive is a word or a phrase that follows a noun and defines it.

Incorrect:The books, an English dictionary and a chemistry test, lies on the shelf.

Correct: The books, an English dictionary and a chemistry test, lie on the shelf.

Incorrect: State University, the largest of state-supported school, have ...

Correct: State University, the largest of state-supported school, has ...

208. Agreement - inverse order (V-S).

"There and "here" introduce inverse word order (verb-subject).

The verb agrees with the subject following it.

There V(plural) S(plural)

There are results of the election.

There are a dog and a cat.

There were three merry hogs.

There have been several objections.

There V(sing) S(sing)

There is an idea.

There is a table.

There was a crazy cat.

There has been one objection.

There was the bravest knight.

209. Agreement - an indefinite subject and verb.

Following phrases are singular: є

anyone neither

anything no one

either nothing

everyone what

everything whatever

whoever

Following phrases are plural: Few, the rest

Don't use singular verb with plural subject or plural verb with singular subject.

210. Agreement - a collective subject and verb.

Following collective subject agree with singular verb:

audience group team

band majority variety

chorus orchestra

class police 2,3,4,... dollars

committee public

faculty series 2,3,4,... miles

family staff

Don't use plural verbs with singular subjects.

Next chapters

Back to the table of contents